Within this report I will include information on the regulatory bodies that govern gaming and

the issues that are faced by these bodies. I will look into the individual companies that are
responsible for regulating gaming and see what issues they tackle.
The first Regulatory body that is used to regulate gaming is ASA, this stands for Advertising
Standards Authority and works in the UK as an independent regulator of advertising across
all media. They use committees of advertising practice to decide whether the advert is
suitable. They rely on complaints to regulate existing adverts and also proactively check the
media to act against misleading, harmful or offensive adverts. If an advert breaches UK
Advertising Codes it must be withdrawn or amended. In 2012 3,700 adverts were withdrawn
or amended. 70% of work is to combat misleading advertising. 30% of work is around
offence and harm.
Another body that regulates gaming is BIMA, the main focuses of the BIMA is to, Support
and promote the British digital industry, share knowledge and best practice, reward great
work and encourage the next generation. BIMA also prides itself on having a wide
membership and its membership spans all sectors having hundreds of organisations and
individuals providing a valuable way to keep up with the fast moving sector. BIMA offers
access to market data by having links to government, professional bodies and often has
conferences to keep up with industry issues. BIMAs primary concern is the UK and actively
dedicated to the UK membership but also campaigns globally the UK multimedia industry.
The regulatory body that is most often heard of is PEGI and this stands for Pan European
Game Information. Their main focus is to age rate games and to describe what features the
game has which gives it its age rating. This allows European parents to make informed
decisions about whether the game is suitable for their children. It was introduced in 2003 to
take over many age rating companies and combine them into one. This company is
supported by the main console producers and one of the most well-known game producing
companies.
An age rating decides whether the content is suitable for a specific age, while 49% of games
are suitable for all players there are still 4% of games that are 18+. This protects minors from
unsuitable content and the rating does not take into account the difficulty of the game.
The final regulatory body is the VSC, this was
established in 1989 and fulfils two basic roles:
The first is to be a standards body for the video
and video game industries and to do this they
have a code of practice that is designed to
show care when dealing with customers and
the public. It also offers staff training to retailers
in dealing with age restricted videos, DVDS and video games. The second thing that VSC
does is it is and administrator for the PEGI system of age ratings for video games. PEGI is a
vast company and deals with 30 countries and VSC is responsible for the age ratings in the
UK using the PEGI system. When fulfilling this role it uses the name Games Rating Authority
(GRA).
All these regulatory bodies work together to regulate what content is used and seen in
games. The only reason that these regulatory bodies are needed is to keep explicit content

away from underage children and to stop them viewing or playing games that are
inappropriate.
Organisations like PEGI play a massive role to keep explicit content away from children and
they do this by including a picture rating system of not just age but what explicit content the
game includes.
PEGI 3
The content is considered suitable for all age groups. Some violence in a comical
context is acceptable. All characters should be fantasy so children cannot relate to
them. The game should not contain anything that will scare or frighten young
children and there should be no bad language.
PEGI 7
Any game that would normally be rated at PEGI 3 but contains some elements
that are not allowed in games of that rating.

PEGI 12
Videogames with a slightly more graphic nature towards fantasy character and/or
non graphic violence towards human-looking characters or recognisable animals.
Videogames that show nudity with a more graphic nature would be in this age
rating. Bad language in this category must be mild and no sexual expletives.
PEGI 16
Videogames with violence or sexual activity that reaches a level that looks the
same as it would in real life. More extreme bad language, tobacco and drugs and
the depiction of criminal activities can be content of games that are rated 16.

PEGI 18
The adult classification is applied when the level of violence reaches a stage
where it becomes a depiction of gross violence and/or includes elements of
specific types of violence. Gross violence is the most difficult to define since it can
be very subjective in many cases, but in general terms it can be classed as the
depictions of violence that would make the viewer feel a sense of revulsion.
Descriptors shown on the back of the packaging indicate the main reasons why a game has
received a particular age rating.
Bad Language
Game contains bad language.

Discrimination
Game contains depictions of, or material which may encourage, discrimination.

Drugs
Game refers to or depicts the use of drugs.

Fear
Game may be frightening or scary for young children.

Gambling
Games that encourage or teach gambling.

Sex
Game depicts nudity and/or sexual behaviour or sexual references.

Violence
Game contains depictions of violence.

Online gameplay
Game can be played online.

These are the many pictures and descriptions used by PEGI to regulate the gaming industry,
these are all there to make parent aware of what is included in their childs game and make
sure there is not inappropriate content.
Overall in this report I have explained what the key regulatory bodies that are involved with
gaming do and I have also explained that there sole reason for regulating games is so to
keep inappropriate content away from children.
Bibliography
http://www.asa.org.uk/?gclid=CLH18dLL88QCFUL4wgodbZkAKA
http://www.bima.co.uk/
http://www.pegi.info/en/index/
http://www.videostandards.org.uk/VSC/